★★½ (Two and a half glass Zunes out of five) Stream if: You have a lingering soft spot for 2008 fashion (leggings under skirts, fedoras), need a nostalgia hit for the MySpace era, or want to see Jane Lynch teach a masterclass in elevating trashy material.
Director Damon Santostefano (who also helmed the Duff original) knows exactly what formula he is working with: orphaned dancer (Mary, played by Gomez) meets pop-star heartthrob (Joey, played by Andrew Seeley). The twist? The glass slipper is a Zune (yes, a Microsoft Zune) loaded with dance tracks, and the royal ball is a masquerade-themed high school dance where the main goal is not to find a husband, but to stop a lip-syncing diva. another cinderella story full
Gomez, then 16, was in her "sweet but sarcastic" transitional phase. Unlike Duff’s naïve Sam, Gomez’s Mary is a cynic. She wears a track jacket, listens to hip-hop, and has zero interest in fame. When Joey reveals he is a pop star, she scoffs: “You’re a puppet. You don’t write your songs, you don’t produce your beats, you just show up and look pretty.” It is a surprisingly meta critique of the Disney machinery that Gomez herself was a part of. ★★½ (Two and a half glass Zunes out
Andrew Seeley—a professional dancer and ghost-singer for Zac Efron in High School Musical —has the physicality but not the acting chops. The chemistry is functional. The real scene-stealer is Jane Lynch as Mary’s eccentric, former-dancer guardian. Lynch delivers every line about "kitchen choreography" with the deadpan commitment of a woman who knows she is in a B-movie and is having the time of her life. The glass slipper is a Zune (yes, a